AEGYPTIUS GOD KHEPRI

Sun-god creator in the form of a scarab beetle.

The image of the scarab is almost synonymous with Ancient Egypt. The choice of an insect to convey one of the forms of the sun-god illustrates the keen eye of the Egyptian in observing nature and his imagination in trying to understand the universe. Khepri is the sun-god at dawn on the eastern horizon. His iconography is that of the scarab beetle (of which there are numerous varieties in Egypt) pushing the disk of the sun upwards from the Underworld to journey across the sky. In their own local environment the Egyptians would have noticed the scarabs busily rolling balls of dirt across the ground and translated this method of propulsion into an explanation of the sun’s circuit. However, the analogy did not stop there. Observing that out of the ball emerged a scarab, apparently spontaneously, it was logical to see the insect as Khepri – ‘he who is coming into being’, i.e. self-created of his own accord without undergoing the natural cycle of reproduction. The creator sun-god was therefore aptly manifest in the ‘scarabaeus sacer’ or dung beetle.

Inscriptional evidence for Khepri occurs in the pyramids of the Old Kingdom: a wish is expressed for the sun to come into being in its name of Khepri. The priesthood of the sun-god combined his different forms to assert that ATUMKhepri arises on the primeval mound in the mansion of the BENU in Heliopolis. Referring to the myth of the sun-god’s journey through the hours of night, Khepri is said to raise his beauty into the body of NUT the sky-goddess. From noticing the somewhat slimy consistency of the scarab beetle’s dirt-ball, the earth is made from the spittle coming from Khepri.

From about the Middle Kingdom representations of Khepri, as the ovoid scarab, regularly occur in three-dimensional form carved as the amuletic backing of seals. These scarabs, by implication, connect the wearer with the sun-god. The underside could be incised, not just with the titles and name of an official, but also with good-luck designs, deities and the names of royalty used for their protective power. Kings would use the undersides of large scarabs to commemorate specific events – Amenhotep III (Dynasty XVIII) has left a number of these news bulletins which inter alia give information on his prowess at lion hunting and celebrate the arrival of a Syrian princess into his harem. The scarab could form the bezel of a ring or be part of a necklace or bracelet – the tomb of Tutankhamun has provided us with splendid examples of scarabs made of semi-precious stones like lapis lazuli set in gold. One of the young king’s pectorals in particular stresses the dominance of Khepri the sun-god as well as being a masterpiece of the jeweller’s craft: in the centre of the design is a scarab carved from chalcedony combined with the wings and talons of the solar hawk, representing Khepri who, as controller of celestial motion, is shown here pushing the boat of the moon-eye.

Paintings in funerary papyri show Khepri on a boat being lifted up by the god NUN, the primeval watery chaos. In some depictions Khepri coalesces with other conceptions of the sun-god to present the appearance of a ram-headed beetle. On a wall of the interior chamber in the tomb of Petosiris (fourth century BC) at Tuna el-Gebel, Khepri was carved quite naturalistically in low relief, painted lapis lazuli blue, wearing the ‘atef’ crown of OSIRIS. Less frequently Khepri could be shown as an anthropomorphic god to the shoulders with a full scarab beetle for a head. Bizarre as it might seem, the Egyptian artist has left some magnificent depictions of Khepri in this form – e.g. in the tomb of Nefertari (Dynasty XIX) in the Valley of the Queens.

Although relatively few examples are extant in museums or in Egypt, it seems likely that the major temples each possessed a colossal hard-stone statue of Khepri. Raised on a plinth, the scarab symbolised architecturally the concept that the temple was the site where the sun-god first emerged to begin the creation of the cosmos.

Chinese world map, 1763 - Now A vailable for fantasy use!

In January 2006, a Chinese collector, Liu Gang, announced that he had acquired, in 2001, a hand-drawn map that referred to Admiral Zheng He’s expedition in 1418. The Economist (12 January 2006) ran an article, 'An ancient map that strongly suggests Chinese seamen were first round the world', describing it as 'a copy, made in 1763, of a map, dated 1418'

There are two issues: the supposed connection with Zheng He, which was seen as tying in with Gavin Menzies's theories about a 1421 discovery of America; and the question of whether the map (supposedly subjected to radiocarbon-dating testing) was a (misinterpreted?) eighteenth-century original or a modern fake.

Both sides of the argument can be accessed via the '1421 exposed' site, which sets out reasoned arguments against the overlapping Menzies and Liu Gang theories. See also 'The "Liu/Menzies" world map: a critique' (pdf article by Geoff Wade, in: e-Perimetron, 2:4 (Autumn, 2007), pp. 270-7). [Added 29 June 2008.]

Posting by Dr. Geoff Wade on the Maphist list - 24 March 2006

I remain convinced that this “1763/1418” map is a 21^st-century fake. It was certainly produced by someone educated in simplified characters (meaning under the PRC in the last 50 years) and the purpose of the map is to support the Menzies thesis (and so it was produced within the last four years). I have incorporated, along with my own thoughts, some comments and observations from Jin Guo-ping, Zhou Zhen-he, Gong Ying-yan, and Hou Yang-fang in the following critique.

A. There are a number of issues about this map which need to be noted:

1. It is a dual-hemisphere map, a cartographic tradition exclusively European. California is represented as an island, copied straight from European maps of the 17^th century. China is placed at the centre of the map as it was in early Jesuit maps of the world produced in China. It is based on a rough copy of a Jesuit map of the world.

2. It copies some parts of the text from early Jesuit maps.

3. Creating such a map is conditional upon recognition that world is a sphere. No indigenous Ming maps show that there was a belief that the world was a sphere.

4. For a sphere to be represented on a flat plane, there needs to be knowledge of and methods for projection. Chinese cartographers did not have this knowledge.

5. The amount of non-coastal detail (including riverine systems extending thousands of miles from the coast) indicate that these maps could not have been produced by maritime voyagers. The information in the maps was obviously amassed over time by cultures who had travelled widely. It fits perfectly within the history of European cartography, but is a complete anomaly in Chinese cartography.

6. The map is supposedly drawn in 1763 for submission to the Court by someone called Mo Yi-tong, partially based on a "map of the barbarians from all under Heaven who offer tribute to the Court" drawn in the 16th year of the Yong-le reign (1418), with those inscriptions circled in red. Such mode of attribution is not a part of Chinese cartographic tradition and neither is circling particular names in red to indicate that they are from an earlier map. No one has identified this unknown person who supposedly suvbmitted this map to the court.

7. The representation of China is poor. Why should Chinese cartographers have represented the lands with which they were so familiar so poorly?

8. Some of the persons who are supposed to have authenticated the map -- Professor Robert Cribbs, Dr. Gunnar Thompson, Charlotte Harris Rees, Lam Yee Din, Robin Lind, Gerald Andrew Bottomley and Anatole Andro -- have not even seen the map. None of these persons is an expert in any relevant field.

B. Annotations

1. The map is named the 'Overall Map of the Geography of All Under Heaven' (tian-xia quan-yu zong-tu) which makes no sense as a map name. It is grammatically incorrect to use 'quan yu' (complete geography) and 'zong tu' (overall map) in the one title.

2. The term 'quan-yu' (complete geography) is never used in Chinese classical writing.

3. The eunuch Zheng He is referred to as Ma San-bao. No one would have dared to use his original name given that the emperor had assigned him the surname Zheng.

4. The term “shi-gong-tu” is used instead of “zhi-gong-tu” to indicate a map of tributaries. This shows the faker did not understand the institutions of imperial China. Liu Gang’s explanation that this meant that the tributaries had been “recognised” is neither logical nor feasible. There is no example of that term in imperial Chinese works.

5.. There are various simplified characters ( particularly yu), used in the map, which while in use during the 18^th century , would not have been used on a map intended for submission to the Court. This also suggests creation of map by modern person who was unfamiliar with the classical distinctions between these characters.

6. The map uses the term "all under Heaven" for this world map. During the Qing, this term referred to the Qing empire, not the world.

7. The Himalayas are marked as the highest mountains in the world. This fact was only discovered in the 19^th century.

C. The annotations in red are supposedly from 1418.

1. The style of the language used in the annotations is not congruent with usual Ming language, cartographic or otherwise. It is a modern attempt at sounding “classical”.

2. In eastern Europe, there is an annotation in a red border which notes: "The people here all worship God (shang-di) and their religion is called 'Jing'." The term “shang-di” in reference to the Christian God was created only in the late 16^th century, and the recognition in China of Nestorianism (“Jing”) as a branch of Christianity occurred only in the early 17^th century.

3. The name of Korea is given as Gao-li. By 1418, it had long been changed to Chao-xian.

4. The name of Vietnam is given as Annam. By 1418, this had long become the Chinese province of Jiao-zhi.

5. The provincial names Hu-bei and Hu-nan are given. In 1418, these had not been created. The areas were part of Hu-guang.

6. There are a number of annotations “Great Qing Ocean” in red in the seas off China. These are supposedly to date from 1418, 230 years before the Qing dynasty had been established.

7. Taiwan is named as “Ryukyu”. During the Ming, the country of Ryukyu was a tributary of the Ming and the Ming certainly knew where it was. There is no evidence that Taiwan was referred to as Ryukyu during the Ming.

8. The map refers to the southern and northern capital areas (zhi-li), but these were only created in 1421, 3 years after the map was supposedly drawn.

In short, the map is simply a litany of errors, many simplistic. There is absolutely no possibility that this is anything but a 21^st century map, produced in order to try to profit from Menzies’ 1421 hypothesis.

Of course the dating of the paper reveals that the piece of paper tested could be from the 18^th century. This means nothing, as there is no evidence that it came from the map which Mr Liu Gang has been showing the world.

TRANSYLVANIA

Dracula's original castle lies in ruins. The person who Count Draculs was based on was a Prince named Vlad III. Vlad III was born in Sighisoara in 1431. In the 15th century, Romania was made up of a number of small states, each with an independent ruler.

Vlad III earned the surname "Tepes" (The Impaler) because he impaled his enemies.

Vlad Tepes was a ruler for a state called Wallachia not Transylvania. Wallachia is located just south of Transylvania.

The name "Dracula" was first held by his father Vlad II. The name means "Son of a Dragon". Vlad senior received the name because he was part of the Order of the Dragon, an order created by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund.

The Order of the Dragon was designed as an alliance to fight the Turks. Vlad Tepes assumed the name from his father. In current day Romanian, the word "Dracu" is synonymous with the word "Devil". "Dracula" is therefore referred to as one who is Devil-like.

As a ruler, Dracula probably had some "Devilish" habits such as drinking human blood. This was likely done to promote fear . It was not unusual in those times for the victor of a war to "drink the blood of his enemy". Whether Dracula took it a few steps further it is not known for certain. But it was enough to allow for countless Dracula stories to be told in the future.

Dracula was a very strict ruler. He raised the level of punishment that was administered even for petty crimes. People were hung very easily in those days with little mercy. Not only were they hung but some were executed/tortured by having a 15 foot sharp-end pole striken or impaled into their body starting from in-between their legs and up into the chest area.

Dracula would then have these poles stood up by the side of the road. By-passers would see the type of punishment Dracula administered to his enemies or to those who did wrong. This act of impaling people earned him the name Vlad Tepes (Vlad The Impaler).

Verdeanu, states the following: The people became so honest because of fear of Count Dracula's punishment, that no one dared steal a cup made of gold left by a water well at a road crossing. One day a woman went to drink some water and the cup was gone. She screamed and started crying as she saw the sign that Vlad Tepes (Dracula) was dead, the sign being that the gold cup was stolen. She knew that dishonesty would prevail in the country again.

Vlad tepes was at one point sent as a hostage to Turkey along with his younger brother. After his father and older brother were assassinated, Vlad III returned to become Prince but he was driven off. He later returned and killed his rival and became Prince for 6 years.

One fine Easter morning, he invited nobles suspected of doing in his old dad to a feast. After a few opening jokes, Vlad Tepes got straight to the point or rather he gave them the point from the end of a sharpened stake. Those spared this fate were taken on a lovely 50K death hike at the end of which the survivors were forced to labor on the real Castle Dracula.

With the German settlers in Translyvania, called Saxons, Vlad Tepes was particularly bloodthristy. Unlike his literary counterpart, Vlad Tepes didn't spend much time in Translyvania. He only dropped by occasionally to impale a few thousand people then leave. The Saxon merchants tended to overcook the books and cheat people blind. Vlad, known for his fierce belief in honesty (though not mercy), didn't take too kindly to this anymore then he did to the Saxon cities' habit of supporting rival claimants to the Wallachian throne. Saxon travelers back in the Fatherland relayed stories of Vlad Tepes which later wound up on the newly-invented printing press as the part of the first tabloid news.

Eventually, Vlad bit off more than he could 'suck' when the Turks invaded in a great numbers. He was forced to retreat and follow a scorched earth policy. The Turks suffering from lack of food and water later withdrew but Vlad carefully arranged them a farewell gift of 20,000 impaled Turkish prisoners.

Shortly after this, nobles, concerned over Vlad's impalement policies, spread nasty rumors about him which got Vlad arrested by his quasi-boss, the Hungarian King. He spent several years in Visigrad Castle north of Budapest admiring the view of the beautiful Danube and (supposedly) impaling mice.

Vlad was released and sent back to Wallahia to give the Turks trouble. The Turks showed up with more trouble and in the ensuing mess Vlad was killed either by treachery or accident but most assuredly not by vampires. He was buried in Snagov, north of Bucharest. A monastery resides on his tomb which has been excavated but no body was found in it.

The Western world soon forgot about Vlad Tepes as they had other problems on their hands, like Protestants and more Turks. The tabloid pamphlets about his notorious deeds ran for a few decades after his death before interest faded.

Flash forward 400 years or so to Jolly Ole Repressed England. Writer Bram Stoker looking to cash in on vampire merchandising writes about a vampiric Transylvanian nobleman named Dracula. Stoker researched much of the geography, culture, and ethnic history of northern Transylvania.

Many people believe that the character Dracula is inspired on Vlad Tepes, in fact that they are the same person/vampire. Several literary scholars, historians, and movie-makers support this notion; most recently is Francis Ford Coppla's misleading and overacted "Bram Stoker's Dracula".

The novel Dracula wasn't a huge success until the 1931 Dracula movie starring the Hungarian Bela Lugosi (the guy in the Ed Wood movie). Dracula became firmly entrenched in the West and other places around the world.

Later interest was sparked in discovering the real Dracula and later books and documentaries have given more information on Vlad Tepes than Bram Stoker knew of him. Vlad Tepes has almost become as famous as vampire alter-ego.

In Romania this success has been met in various ways: from a quick way to make a buck to paranoid nationalist accusations that Dracula is a Hungarian plot to debase a Romanian hero. Dracula was considered by some as a product of a diseased mind.

It’s easy to understand their position if you can imagine an Asian writer making George Washington or Elizabeth I into brain-eating zombies. They, however, didn't go around impaling thousands of people so they're being vilified would be more of a stretch. In 15th Century Romania, judging Vlad Tepes as hero, villain, or sadistic psychopath depended on which side of the stake you stood. Today some Romanian scholars have glossed over some of the more bloodier accounts of his reign.

Unbeknownst to Bram Stoker, Romanian independence was growing in the 19th century and many Romanian nationalists looked to Vlad Tepes as one of the first true Romanian heroes. A century later, Nicholas Ceausescu pushed Vlad's image as a national hero.

The heart of the matter really is Translyvania itself. Despite being filled to the brim with vampires and werewolves, Translyvania is lovely bit of real estate highly sought after. When Dracula was written, Translyvania belonged to Hungary. In 1920 it became part of Romanian. Hungarians claim the Romanians stole it.

Romanians claim to be descended from the Daco-Romano who lived there long before the Magyars arrived. The Romanians have made life difficult for the Hungarian-descended Translyvanians and Saxons. Most Saxons have gone back to Germany and many Hungarians have gone to Hungary. Bitter resentment between Hungary and Romania lingers over the haunted land of Transylvania and Count Dracula in an indirect way serves as a bloody reminder of this hostility.

In Romania, Count Dracula is seen in two ways. One is as generator of tourist dollars. The other view is of a national hero who fought to preserve Romanian identity and independence.

LINK

Vampires: A Chronology

The 1000's

* 1047 First appearance of the word "upir" (an early form of the word later to become "vampire") in a document referring to a Russian prince as "Upir Lichy", or wicked vampire.

The 1100's

* 1190 Walter Map's "De Nagis Curialium" includes accounts of vampire like beings in England.
* 1196 William of Newburgh's "Chronicles" records several stories of vampire like revenants in England.

The 1400's

* 1428/29 Vlad Tepes, the son of Vlad Dracul, is born.
* 1463 Vlad Tepes becomes Prince of Wallachia and moves to Tirgoviste.
* 1442 Vlad Tepes is imprisoned with his father by the Turks.
* 1443 Vlad Tepes becomes a hostage by the Turks.
* 1447 Vlad Dracul is beheaded.
* 1448 Vlad briefly attains the Wallachian throne. Dethroned, he goes to Moldavia and befriends Prince Stefan.
* 1451 Vlad and Stephan flee to Transylvania.
* 1455 Constantinople falls.
* 1456 John Hunyadi assists Vlad Tepes to attain Wallachian throne. Vladislav Dan is executed.
* 1458 Matthias Corvinu succeeds John Hunyadi as King of Hungary.
* 1459 Easter massacre of boyers and rebuilding of Dracula's castle. Bucharest is established as the second governmental center.
* 1460 Attack upon Brasov, Romania
* 1461 Successful campaign against Turkish settlements along the Danube, Summer retreat to Tirgoviste.
* 1462 Following the battle at Dracula's castle, Vlad flees to Transylvania. Vlad begins 13 years of imprisonment.
* 1475 Summer wars in Serbia against Turks take place. November: Vlad resumes throne of
* 1476/77 Vlad is assassinated. 

The 1500's

* 1560 Elizabeth Bathory is born.
The 1600's
* 1610 Bathory is arrested for killing several hundred people and bathing in their blood. Tried and convicted, she is sentenced to life imprisonment, being bricked into a room in her castle.
* 1614 Elizabeth Bathory dies.

* 1610 Leo Allatius finishes writing the first modern treatment of vampires, "De Graecorum hodie quirundam opinationabus".
* 1657 Fr. Francoise Richard's "Relation de ce qui s'est passé a Sant-Erini Isle de l'Archipel" links vampirism and witchcraft.

* 1672 Wave of vampire hysteria sweeps through Istra.
* 1679 A German vampire text, "De Masticatione Mortuorum", by Phillip Rohr is written. 

The 1700's

* 1710 Vampire hysteria sweeps through East Prussia.
* 1725 Vampire hysteria returns to East Prussia.
* 1725-30 Vampire hysteria lingers in Hungary.
* 1725-32 The wave of vampire hysteria in Austrian Serbia produces the famous cases of Peter Plogojowitz and Arnold Paul (Paole).
* 1734 The word "vampyre" enters the English language in translations of German accounts of European waves of vampire hysteria.
* 1744 Cardinal Giuseppe Davanzati publishes his treatise, "Dissertazione sopre I Vampiri."
* 1746 Dom Augustin Calmet publishes his treatise on vampires, "Dissertations sur les Apparitions des Anges des Demons et des Espits, et sur les revenants, et Vampires de Hundrie, de boheme, de Moravic, et de Silesie."
* 1748 The first modern vampire poem, "Der Vampir," is published by Heinrich August Ossenfelder.
* 1750 Another wave of vampire hysteria occurs in East Prussia.
* 1756 Vampire hysteria peaks in Wallachia.
* 1772 Vampire hysteria occurs in Russia.
* 1797 Goethe's "Bride of Corinth" (a poem concerning a vampire) is published.
* 1798-1800 Samuel Taylor Coleridge writes "Christabel," now conceded to be the first vampire poem in English.

The 1800's

* 1800 "I Vampiri," an opera by Silvestro de Palma, opens in Milan, Italy.
* 1801 "Thalaba" by Robert Southey is the first poem to mention the vampire in English.
* 1810 Reports of sheep being killed by having their jugular veins cut and their blood drained circulated through northern England. "The Vampyre," an early vampire poem, by John Stagg is published.
* 1813 Lord Byron's poem "The Giaour" includes the hero's encounter with a vampire.
* 1819 John Polidori's "The Vampyre," the first vampire story in English, is published in the April issue of "New Monthly Magazine." John Keats composes "The Lamia," a poem built on ancient Greek legends.
* 1820 "Lord Ruthwen ou Les Vampires" by Cyprien Berard is published anonymously in Paris. June 13: "Le Vampire," the play by Charles Nodier, opens at the Theatre de la Porte Saint-Martin in Paris. August: "The Vampire; or, The Bride of the Isles," a translation of Nodier's play by James R. Planche, opens in London.
* 1829 March: Heinrich Marschner's opera, "Der Vampyr," based on Nodier's story, opens in Liepzig.
* 1841 Alexey Tolstoy publishes his short story, "Upyr," while living in Paris. It is the first modern vampire story by a Russian.
* 1847 Bram Stoker is born. "Varney the Vampire" begins lengthy serialization.
* 1851 Alexandre Dumas' last dramatic work, "Le Vampire," opens in Paris.
* 1854 The case of vampirism in the Ray family of Jewell, Connecticut, is published in local newspapers.
* 1872 "Carmilla" is written by Sheridan Le Fanu. In Italy, Vincenzo Verzeni is convicted of murdering two people and drinking their blood.
* 1874 Reports from Ceven, Ireland, tell of sheep having their throats cut and their blood drained.
* 1888 Emily Gerard's "Land Beyond the Forest" is published. It will become a major source of information about Transylvania for Bram Stoker's "Dracula."
* 1894 H.G. Wells' short story, "The Flowering of the Strange Orchid," is a precursor to science fiction vampire stories.
* 1897 "Dracula" by Bram Stoker is published in England. "The Vampire" by Rudyard Kipling becomes the inspiration for the creation of the vamp as a stereotypical character on stage and screen.

The 1900's

* 1912 "The Secrets of House No. 5," possibly the first vampire movie, is produced in Great Britain.
* 1913 "Dracula's Guest" by Bram Stoker is published.
* 1920 "Dracula," the first film based on the novel, is made in Russia. No copy has survived.
* 1921 Hungarian filmmakers produce a version of "Dracula."
* 1922 "Nosferatu," a German-made silent film produced by Prana Films, is the third attempt to film "Dracula."
* 1924 Hamilton Dean's stage version of "Dracula" opens in Derby. Fritz Harmann of Hanover, Germany, is arrested, tried and convicted of killing more than 20 people in a vampiric crime spree. Sherlock Holmes has his only encounter with a vampire in "The Case of the Sussex Vampire."
* 1927 February 14: Stage version of "Dracula" debuts at the Little Theatre in London. October: American version of "Dracula" starring Bela Lugosi, opens at Fulton Theatre in New York City. Tod Browning directs Lon Chaney in "London After Midnight," the first full-length feature film.
* 1928 The first edition of Montague Summers's influential work "The Vampire: His Kith and Kin" appears in England.
* 1929 Montague Summers's second vampire book, "The Vampire in Europe," is published.
* 1931 January: Spanish film version of "Dracula" is previewed. February: American film version of "Dracula" with Bela Lugosi premiers at the Roxy Theatre in New York City. Peter Kurten of Dusseldorf, Germany, is executed after being found guilty of murdering a number of people in a vampiric killing spree.
* 1932 The highly acclaimed movie "Vampyr," directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, is released.
* 1936 "Dracula's Daughter" is released by Universal Pictures.
* 1942 A. E. Van Vought's "Asylum" is the first story about an alien vampire.
* 1943 "Son of Dracula (Universal Pictures) stars Lon Chaney, Jr., as Dracula.
* 1944 John Carradine plays Dracula for the first time in "Horror of Dracula."
* 1953 "Drakula Istanbula," a Turkish film adaptation of "Dracula," is released. "Eerie" No. 8 includes the first comic book adaptation of "Dracula."
* 1954 The Comics Code banishes vampires from comic books. "I am Legend" by Richard Matheson presents vampirism as a disease that alters the body.
* 1956 John Carradine plays Dracula in the first television adaptation of the play for "Matinee Theatre." "Kyuketsuki Ga," the first Japanese vampire film, is released.
* 1957 The first Italian vampire movie, "I Vampiri," is released. American producer Roger Corman makes the first science fiction vampire movie, "Not of This Earth." "El Vampiro" with German Robles is the first of a new wave of Mexican vampire films.
* 1958 Hammer Films in Great Britain initiates a new wave of interest in vampires with the first of it's "Dracula" films, released in the United States as the "Horror of Dracula." First issue of "Famous Monsters of Filmland" signals a new interest in horror films in the Untied States.* *
* 1959 "Plan 9 From Outer Space is Bela Lugosi's last film.
* 1961 "The Bad Flower" is the first Korean film adaptation of "Dracula."
* 1962 The Count Dracula Society is founded in the United States by Donald Reed.
* 1964 "Parque de Juelos (Park of Games)" is the first Spanish made vampire movie.
* 1964 "The Munsters" and "The Addams Family"; two horror comedies with vampire characters, open in the fall television season.
* 1965 Jeanne Youngson founds The Count Dracula Fan Club. "The Munsters," based on the television show of the same name, is the first comic book series featuring a vampire character.
* 1966 "Dark Shadows" debuts on television.
* 1967 April: In episode 210 of "Dark Shadows", vampire Barnabas Collins makes his first appearance.
* 1969 First issue of "Vampirella," the longest running vampire comic book to date, is released. Denholm Elliot plays the title role in a BBC television production of "Dracula, Does Dracula Really Suck? (aka Dracula and the Boys)" is released as the first gay vampire movie.
* 1970 Christopher Lee stars in "El Conde Dracula," the Spanish film adaptation of "Dracula." Sean Manchester founds The Vampire Research Society.
* 1971 Marvel Comics releases the first copy of a post-Comics Code vampire comic book, "The Tomb of Dracula." Morbius, the Living Vampire, is the first new vampire character introduced after the revision of the Comics code allowed vampires to reappear in comic books.
* 1972 "The Night Stalker" with Darrin McGavin becomes the most watched television movie to that point in time. "Vampire Kung-Fu" is released in Hong Kong as the first of a string of vampire martial arts films. "In Search of Dracula" by Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu introduces Vlad the Impaler, the historical Dracula, to the world of contemporary vampire fans. "A Dream of Dracula" by Leonard Wolf complements McNally's and Florescu's effort in calling attention to vampire lore. "True Vampires of History" by Donald Glut is the first attempt to assemble the stories of all the historical vampire figures. Stephan Kaplan founds The Vampire Research Centre.
* 1973 Dan Curtis Productions' version of "Dracula" (1973) stars Jack Palance in a made-for-television movie. Nancy Garden's "Vampires" launches a wave of juvenile literature for children and youth.
* 1975 Fred Saberhagen proposes viewing Dracula as a hero rather than a village in "The Dracula Tape." "The World of Dark Shadows" is founded as the first "Dark Shadows" fanzine.
* 1976 "Interview with the Vampire" by Anne Rice is published. Stephen King is nominated for the World Fantasy Award for his vampire novel, "'Salem's Lot." Shadowcon, the first national "Dark Shadows convention, is organized by Dark Shadows fans."
* 1977 A new dramatic version of "Dracula" opens on Broadway starring Frank Langella. Louis Jordan stars in the title role in "Count Dracula," a three-hour version of Bram Stoker's book on BBC television. Martin V. Riccardo founds the Vampire Studies Society.
* 1978 Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's book "hotel Transylvania" joins the volumes of Fred Saberhagen and Anne Rice as the third major effort to begin a reappraisal of the vampire myth during the decade. Eric Held and Dorothy Nixon found the Vampire Information Exchange.
* 1979 Based on the success of the new Broadway production, Universal Pictures remakes "Dracula" (1979), starring Frank Langella. The band Bauhaus's recording of "Bela Lugosi's Dead" becomes the first hit of the new gothic rock music movement. "Shadowgram" is founded as a "Dark Shadows" fanzine.
* 1980 The Bram Stoker Society is founded in Dublin, Ireland. Richard Chase, the so-called Dracula Killer of Sacramento, California, commits suicide in prison. The World Federation of Dark Shadows Clubs (now Dark Shadows Official Fan Club) is founded.*
* 1983 In the December issue of "Dr. Strange," Marvel Comics' ace occultist kills all of the vampires in the world, thus banishing them from Marvel Comics for the next six years. Dark Shadows Festival is founded to host an annual "Dark Shadows" convention.
* 1985 "The Vampire Lestat" by Anne Rice is published and reaches the best seller list.
* 1989 Overthrow of Romanian dictator Nikolai Ceaucescu opens Transylvania to Dracula enthusiasts. Nancy Collins wins a Bram Stoker Award for her vampire novel "Sunglasses After Dark."
* 1991 Vampire: The Masquerade," the most successful of the vampire role-playing games, is released by White Wolf.
* 1992 "Bram Stoker's Dracula" directed by Francis Ford Coppola opens. Andrei Chikatilo of Rostov, Russia, is sentenced to death after killing and vampirizing some 55 people.

EDORAS

Edoras was the capital of Rohan.

 

The city of Edoras was built on a hill in a valley of the White Mountains by Rohan's second King, Brego son of Eorl the Young. Before this, Rohan's capital was at Aldburg in the Folde.

 

Wulf son of Freca the Dunlending, invaded Rohan in 2758 and took Edoras usurping the throne in Meduseld. But the Long Winter, which had lasted five long months, ended and Fréaláf son of Hild came out of Dunharrow and with a small band of men, surprising Wulf, he attacked Edoras and slew Wulf, regaining Edoras.

 

Edoras was Rohan's only real city, and held the Golden Hall of Meduseld. It was here that Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and Gandalf the White met with Théoden King.

 

Edoras was built at the end of the valley of Harrowdale, which lay under the great mountain Starkhorn.

 

The river Snowbourn flowed past Edoras on its way west towards the Entwash.

 

In Peter Jackson's film version, Edoras was built on Mount Sunday, in the upper reaches of the Rangitata Valley, near Erewhon.

LINK

GEOGRAPHY OF PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN

Isla de Muerta

Isla de Muerta is an island featured in the 2003 film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. It is a mysterious isle where the Black Pearl’s pirate crew hide their looted treasure.

The Curse of the Black Pearl

According to Jack Sparrow, Isla de Muerta is, literally translated from Spanish is “an isle of the dead which cannot be found, except by those who already know where it is.” To locate it, Captain Sparrow uses his unique compass — rather than pointing north, it points to what its holder wants most. What Sparrow wants is the Black Pearl that is anchored at the island.

Shrouded in a mysterious and everlasting fog, the isle is surrounded by a graveyard of sunken ships; its waters swarm with hammerhead sharks and fish shoals.

From the air, the island resembles the face of a human skull. It appears to be largely unexplored, save for a maze of caves where Captain Barbossa’s crew hoard their looted treasure. Here is where the dreaded Chest of Cortez containing the cursed Aztec gold is kept.

Apart from the caves, there seems to be little that is interesting on the island, at least it is not shown, except the piles of horded treasure which the crew of the Black Pearl acquired during their many years of searching for the last cursed coin and the one remaining blood sacrifice.

Dead Man’s Chest

In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, it’s learned that the island was reclaimed by the sea, taking with it both the cursed Aztec treasure and the uncursed mountains of swag that Barbossa’s crew had hoarded while they were cursed. It was this swag that Jack Sparrow had agreed to pay his new crew with, but had to change his plans when it sank with the island. Barbossa himself was only retrieved due to the intervention of Tia Dalma, who did so and also restored him to life before the events of Dead Man’s Chest.

Tortuga

Tortuga is a pirate island off the northern coast of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), out of the jurisdiction of the Royal Navy and the East India Trading Company. While it remains a free port where traders can escape the high East India tariffs, it is a dangerous one where illegal transactions are common. Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner, in hot pursuit of Captain Hector Barbossa, moor their stolen ship, the H.M.S. Interceptor there to recruit a crew. Their conscripts included Joshamee Gibbs, Anamaria, Cotton, and Marty.

Tortuga also appears in Dead Man’s Chest. Will goes there to hunt for Jack Sparrow, although he ultimately finds him on Pelegosto Island (see below). A denizen tells Will that he saw a ship with black sails (the Black Pearl) beached on Pelegosto while he was sailing a trade route. Jack returns to Tortuga to try and enlist ninety-nine unsuspecting sailors to pay off his blood debt to Davy Jones. Although he falls far short of his goal, the new crew proves useful during the final confrontation with the Kraken, although they apparently do not survive. Jack is reunited with Elizabeth Swann while in Tortuga and also recruits the down-and-out James Norrington, who resigned his commission after losing his ship in a hurricane while pursuing the Black Pearl, although Norrington first tries to shoot Sparrow.

At the conclusion of At World’s End, Jack and Gibbs are stranded in Tortuga when Barbossa and the crew steal the Black Pearl.

Pelegosto

Pelegosto is a fictional island. The relevant scenes were actually filmed on the lush, tropical island of Dominica.

In Dead Man’s Chest, Bootstrap Bill Turner, acting as an agent for Davy Jones, delivers the Black Spot to Captain Jack Sparrow, a mark that indicates his blood debt to Jones is due. To hide from the Kraken, and to seek the advice of Tia Dalma, Jack commands the Black Pearl to land on Pelegosto, the nearest island. Pelegosto is a typical Caribbean island with sandy beaches and lush, mountainous jungles. But it is not the paradise it appears to be, as it is inhabited by a vicious cannibal tribe that captures the Pearl’s crew and eats some crewmen. They also believe Jack Sparrow to be a God in human form and plan to eat him to “release him from his fleshy prison”. Will Turner arrives and helps them escape the island. The obeah woman Tia Dalma makes her home in a swampy bayou in the Pantano River on the other side of the island. A population of mysterious natives live in shacks along the river’s banks, in relative safety. The cannibals avoid this part of the island, most likely out of fear of Tia Dalma. The fact that Tia Dalma is in fact the goddess Calypso in human form that is seeking release may have been the basis for the Pelegosto’s beliefs, though where the taste for human flesh came from is decidedly less clear.

According to the film’s writers in the Dead Man’s Chest DVD commentary, Pelegosto is the same island Jack told Royal Navy Marines, Mullroy and Murtogg about in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. He tells them “ and then they made me their chief . . .” before being interrupted by Elizabeth Swann falling into the water. It is open to conjecture whether or not the cannibals that call the island home recognised Jack when he was again made their chief in Dead Man’s Chest.

Isla Cruces

Isla Cruces is a fictional island. The relevant scenes were actually filmed in Dominica.

In Dead Man’s Chest, Isla Cruces (Crosses Island) is a tropical island where Davy Jones buried the Dead Man’s Chest containing his beating heart. The island appears to have been abandoned. The previous occupants are unknown, but the partially-remaining stone buildings indicate some European-type colony, probably Spanish, was once established there.

It is not revealed in the film why Davy Jones buried the Dead Man’s Chest on Isla Cruces. However, the film’s writers, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, imply in the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest DVD audio commentary, that Jones chose it because it is a plague island that remains deserted.

Singapore

The mysterious Singapore city is filled with bridge-covered waterways and crude wooden buildings. It appears in At World’s End when Hector Barbossa and Elizabeth Swann visit Sao Feng to steal navigational charts and to request a crew and a ship to rescue Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones’ Locker. The city is last shown as Barbossa, Will, Elizabeth, and the crew set sail in Feng’s ship, the Hai Peng. In the first film (The curse of the Black Pearl) Jack Sparrow mentions Singapore to the two clueless guards as he cuts Elizabeth’s corset after she fell of a cliff and into the sea: “Clearly, you’ve never been to Singapore.” It is also mentioned in Dead Man’s Chest, while Will is asking for the whereabouts of Jack. One man says, “Last I heard, he was in Singapore.”

It is often assumed that the presence of Singapore is anachronistic, based on the notion that the island was named by Sir Stamford Raffles in the 1800s.

Davy Jones’ Locker

Davy Jones’ Locker is a fictional place mentioned in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest by Will Turner’s father, Bootstrap Bill. It is a purgatory where those within are faced with their personal demons - Davy Jones’ favored punishment for those who attempt to cheat him. Even the supernatural, such as Calypso, could be forsaken to an eternity within, and cannot escape. The only condemned person known to have escaped the Locker is Captain Jack Sparrow.

For most, the only way to reach the Locker is to die at sea. The Kraken, a giant sea monster which drags sailors and their ships to the ocean depths, obviously inflicts this fate. It appears that when a person is beaten or eaten, like Jack, they pass through a “membrane” that (depending on whether or not Davy wants them to go there or if they have the Black Spot) it leads them to the Locker, leaving their physical bodies behind. However, the only means by which one may enter the Locker and return afterwards is described by Tia Dalma; by sailing to (or more precisely, off) World’s End. This is impossible without Sao Feng’s navigational charts.

For Jack, the Locker appears as a seemingly endless desert, connected to an equally endless sea (filmed in the Utah Bonneville Salt Flats). Jack is doomed to captain the Black Pearl crewed by many different Jack Sparrows through the desert but it doesn’t move until crabs which look like stones (supposedly sent by the already approaching Calypso considering the same type of crabs coming out of her mouth when she was released) appear and carry the stranded Black Pearl to the shore. The endless sea, known as the Sea of Lost Souls, is the only escape route, which is filled with those who died at sea. They were unable to reach the afterlife, forsaken by Davy Jones, whose duty it was to ferry them to the “other side.” Governor Swann is found here after having been murdered by Beckett.

Returning to the living world is far more difficult, requiring knowledge of the relationship between the Locker and the living world. Such knowledge can also be found within Sao Feng’s chart, but as confusing and cryptic clues. However, Jack is able to decipher the clue needed to return to the Living World: Up is Down. The crew of the Black Pearl capsize the ship at sundown, and return to the Living World at sunrise.

Shipwreck Cove

Shipwreck Cove is a fictional island in the 2007 film, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. It is unique in that the island’s land mass in the interior is composed entirely of shipwrecks. Shipwreck Cove is considered to be an impregnable fortress, well-supplied, and able to withstand nearly any siege.

In Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Shipwreck Cove, the meeting place for the Brethren Court, is nestled in Shipwreck Island and is also the location of the town of Shipwreck.

According to the Essential Guide to Pirates of the Caribbean, every ship must pass through the Devil’s Throat upon entering, which claims several vessels each year.

Minor Locations

 

Parley Sandbar

Also not the actual name. Because Davy Jones can only step on land once every ten years, he and Lord Cutler Beckett meet with Elizabeth Swann and Captain Barbossa there (while Jones stands in a wooden tub filled with water). While there, they swap Will Turner for Jack Sparrow, and Elizabeth vows to Beckett to avenge her father’s death. It is seen only in At World’s End. This sandbar is not something done in a studio. The sandbar itself is a mile or so from Disney’s private island Castaway Cay, which is also the final resting place for the actual movie prop “The Flying Dutchman”.

Frozen Ocean

An ocean filled with icebergs and glaciers that the ship that Sao Feng gave the crew must sail through on their quest to rescue Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones’ Locker. The special features on the At World’s End DVD suggested that this may have been the Caspian Sea.

Black Sam’s Spit

The island that Jack was twice marooned on and made “governor” of by Barbossa. It was used as a storage area for rum runners, but that business was eliminated, presumably by Elizabeth’s “bloody friend Norrington”, long before Jack’s second arrival.

Run Aground Archipelago

When a merchant ship was attacked here by the kraken under the order of Davy Jones, the surviving crew was taken by Jones and his crew. Unfortunately, Will Turner was among them, although he later escapes.

Turkish Prison

A rocky island with an apparently inhumane prison built atop its spires. A drawing of the key to Davy Jones’ Chest was once hidden within its walls, until Jack Sparrow successfully recovered it.

Piracy in the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean, in fact and fiction

 

THE MYTHIC TRUTH - THE LORD OF THE RINGS

Fingolfin

Vial of Galadriel

The gathering of the White Council

Moon letters are discovered by Elrond

All above are courtesy of Maria Lombide Ezpeleta

A Catholic Perpective

Welcome to MythicTruth.net !

===============================================

What inspired me to create this webpage?

I suppose it's partly due to the fact that as I have visited many different online communities devoted to J.R.R. Tolkien's work, I have discovered how passionate people are about protecting the true spirit of Tolkien's labours; especially with the current release of the cinematic versions of the Lord of the Rings and the new readers the movies are bringing into the fold.

In my travels through cyberspace, I have encountered many different views on the themes behind the Lord of the Rings [and Middle-earth in general] and Tolkien's motivation for writing this epic; and while I have read articles and books referring to certain Christian theme in the Lord of the Rings, I have never found online, a website that deals with the subject in a complete, in-depth and satisfying manner.

Not only that, I have not found online, a well expressed Catholic viewpoint on the Lord of the Rings.

Therefore, after some reading and research, I will try to discuss to a reasonable level why I believe Tolkien's faith played an important part in his life's work.

As for me, I am no Tolkien scholar, nor expert. And this is just an amateur webpage, not a book or biography. This is not an exhaustive text, but rather a discussion that will try to highlight the key components of Catholicism in Tolkien's work.

And of course I love the book. Why else would I do this?

Obviously I am Catholic; I have spent some time in monastic life in France in the heart of the Church and, of course I have read the Lord of the Rings multiple times, including the Silmarillion,Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, the History of Middle-earth [HoME] and an assortment of Tolkien's letters.

Bear in mind that this is not trying to make the Lord of the Rings into a fifth Gospel or make it some spiritual work that one must read, but rather point out some beautiful parallels and symbolism in a popular fictional story written by a Catholic. It is also not trying to imply that theonly driving forces behind the story are Catholic or Christian. There are obviously many others.

You don't have to be Catholic or Christian to follow this discussion but you probably do need to have read the Lord of the Rings.

The references and quotes for this discussion have come from a variety of sources but most predominately from:

Tolkien: Man and Myth, - Joseph Pearce Tolkien: A Celebration, - Joseph Pearce  Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, - edited by Humphrey Carpenter & Christopher Tolkien J.R.R. Tolkien: A biography, - Humphrey Carpenter The History of Middle-earth, - edited by Christopher Tolkien Lord of the Rings, - J.R.R. Tolkien

To buy these great books, go to www.amazon.com and search under their names. Another book worth buying is "The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings"by philosopher Peter Kreeft: it can be purchased here

It's worth reading this website in sequential order as it's been written that way [except for the latest updates], but be warned this is a reasonably long discussion....!!

If you would like to contact me please use this address: contact@mythictruth.com

Now, if you're still here, alors commençons... 

Self-Identification with Deity and Voces Magicae in Ancient Egyptian and Greek Magic

By Laurel Holmstrom

 

Occultists and esotericists , such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn [1], have theorized that ancient Egyptian magic is a primary source for western magic practice and ideas. Since we know that the Hermetica and Neo-platonic theurgy have had a profound influence on later European magical traditions [2], an inquiry into possible relationships between Egyptian and Greek magical ideas would be useful in exploring the veracity of the occultists’ claim. This paper focuses on one set of ancient texts, the Greek Magical Papyri, which offer considerable potential for investigating this relationship.

 

The PGM (Papryi Graecae Magicae) [3] is the name given to a cache of papryi of magical spells collected by Jean d’Anastaisi in early 1800’s Egypt. Hans Deiter Betz, in his introduction to the newest English translation, speculates that these papyri may have been found in a tomb or temple library and the largest papyri may have been the collection of one man in Thebes.[4 ]However, the exact provenance for the PGM is unknown. Betz states that through literary sources it is known that quite a number of magical books of spells were collected in ancient times, most of which were destroyed.[5] Thus, the PGM are a very important source for first-hand information about magical practices in the ancient Mediterranean.

 

The PGM spells run the gamut of magical practices from initiatory rites for immortality to love spells and healing rites. Most of the papyri are in Greek and Demotic with glosses in Old Coptic and are dated between the 2^nd century BC and the 5^th century AD. The spells call upon Greek, Egyptian, Jewish, Gnostic and Christian deities.  Two of the most intriguing aspects of these texts are the practice of self-identification with deity and the use of voces magicae in performing magical rituals. In many of the spells, the practitioner is told to use “I am” with a specific deity name to empower or work the spell. PGM I 247-62, a spell for invisibility, states ‘I am Anubis, I am Osirphre, I am OSOT SORONOUIIER, I am Osiris whom Seth destroyed. .”[6] The use of specific magical language in these texts, the voces magicae, is abundant. Most of these words are considered “untranslatable” by the scholars working with the papyri [7].  Words of power in the incantations are composed of long strings of vowels, A EE EEE IIII OOOOO, YYYYYY, OOOOOOO, alone or with special names of deities or daimons which are often palindromes and significantly lengthy as in IAEOBAPHRENEMOUNOTHILARIKRIPHIAEYEAIPIRKIRALITHONUOMENE RPHABOEAI. [8] The exact pronunciation of these voces magicae was key to the success of the spells.

 

Since Egyptian funerary texts clearly identify the deceased with deity and the power of words and language is a predominant feature of Egyptian magic, these notions found in the PGM appeared to provide a possible link between ancient Egyptian and Greek magic.

 

Throughout the funerary literature of ancient Egypt, from the Pyramid Texts to the Book of the Dead, there is abundant evidence that ancient Egyptians thought that human beings could become deities. Deities were seen as possessing heku, magic, an aspect of the original creative power that formed the cosmos. [9] Thus, magic was perceived to be an intrinsic part of reality and the divine. [10] The Coffin Texts provide a guide book for the deceased to help her or him retain what magic they already possess and to gain more. Naming is extremely important in this experience and it is the ability to name all the gods and objects encountered that proves one has acquired enough magic to sit with the gods. [11] In these texts, the deceased is clearly identified with the god Osiris. By using historaloe the deceased will successfully navigate the journey to the afterlife as did Osiris. The use of historaloe in magical practice was common, particularly in healing rites. [12] By knowing the names of all encountered in the afterlife and establishing a link with a deity that had already been successful in this realm, the deceased was well prepared for the journey.

 

In the Pyramid texts, the initial Utterances appear to be a script directing the different Egyptian deities to recite specific formulas on the deceased king’s behalf. Utterance 1 begins “recitation by Nut, the greatly beneficent”, utterance 2, “recitation by Geb” and so forth. [13] Evidence that these utterances were spoken during funeral rites are the notes after the recitations which give directions saying, for example, “pour water”(ut 23) and “cold water and 2 pellets of natron”( ut 32). The priests and priestesses are taking the role of the deities in preparing the deceased to join the gods in the afterlife as well as the deceased being identified with Osiris. Self-identification with deity is an “authentically Egyptian trait”. [14]

 

Language, and particularly naming, carries substantial magical power in Egyptian thought. The goddess Isis, once she learns Ra’s true name, is then able to cure him of snake bite. [15] One of the oldest cosmologies of the Egyptians from Memphis (approx. 2700 BC) describes the god Ptah creating by his mind (heart) and word (tongue) [16]. Thus, words contain a primal substance and the act of speaking mirrors original creation. Speaking creates reality. Writing was given to humans by the god Thoth and the Egyptians called their langauge “words of the gods” and hieroglyphs “writing of the sacred words.” [17]

 

The Pyramid Texts, Coffin Text and the Book of the Dead all exhibit the Egyptian belief in the power of language to affect the world. Words, spoken or written were not just symbols, but realities in themselves. [18] Hieroglyphs held particular resonance with magical power and most of the funerary texts were written in hieroglyphs. The Egyptians clearly believed that humans have energetic doubles in the world beyond the physical and it seems reasonable to suspect that the hieroglyphs were thought to have a similar existence since they were written on the inside of the pyramid tombs or coffins or on scrolls placed inside the coffins for the deceased to use. Further evidence of the reality of the images themselves comes from the practice of cutting particular hieroglyphs in half to diminish their potential effect. [19]

 

Vowel chanting is also found in Egyptian religious practice as reported by Demetrius in his Roman treatise, De Eloutione:

“in Egypt the priests, when singing hymns in praise of the gods, employ the 7 vowels which they utter in due succession and the sound of these letters is so euphonious that men listen to it in place of the flute and lyre” [20] The distinction between religion and magic in scholarly discourse breaks down in the context of Egyptian religion and it is reasonable to suspect that vowel chanting could be used for more than hymns of praise by Egyptian priests.

 

Thus, self-identification with deity and use of a specific kind of magical language found in the PGM places Egyptian magical notions within a Greek magical context. The question then becomes, can evidence be found that Greek magic, prior to the PGM, included these practices and do they appear in later Greek magical material that we know to have influenced the European tradition.

 

Betz states in the Encyclopedia of Religion that “magic was an essential part of Greco-Roman culture and religion.” [21] In classical Greece, Egypt and Thessaly were considered prime sources of magical knowledge, but by 323 BC magical material in Greece had increased considerably. Betz further states that it was “Hellenistic syncretism that produced the abundance of material available today.” [22] Greek magical practitioners distinguished different types of magic; goeteia - lower magic, mageia - general magic and theourgia - higher magic. Theourgia, appears to be the most likely place to find self-identification with deity and the use of voces magicae.  Self-identification with deity in magical acts as part of ancient Greek magical practice prior to the PGM is not evident. The Greeks speculated that humans and gods “had the same mother”, but a huge gap existed between them. From ancient times to the latest date of the PGM, Greek notions about the relationship between human existence and divine existence took a variety of forms [23,] but never followed the Egyptian pattern of the possibility of declarative divine identity. The ancient Greeks believed that communion with the gods was possible as in the Eleusian and Dionysian mysteries [24] and Empedocles declared he had the knowledge to make himself immortal. [25] But, the Greek idea of a divine spark within the human soul which can be activated, contemplated and re-united with the gods still assumes an other-ness of deity and validates the fundamental separateness of human existence from the divine.  For the Egyptians, the divine appears to be immanent in the world. The world of humans and gods were not seen as being decidedly different. Human activity continued after death and Gods, embodied as the Pharoah, lived in human society. Magical practice was merely clarifying what already exists. For the Greeks, magic was a conduit for communication and communion with deity or a process whereby the soul could be purified through direct contact with the Divine. Egyptians had only to affirm a state of being through speech to create the sought reality. “Repeated commands or assertions that a desired state of affairs was already in being, are a common feature of Egyptian spells.” [26]

 

However, there are references to the voces magicae in ancient Greek material aside from the PGM. Early, are the Ephesia grammata, ( ASKION, KATASKION, LIX, TETRAX, DAMNAMENEUS, AISIA ) mystic letters that were supposedly inscribed on the statue of Artemis at Ephesus used verbally and written to avert evil. A lead tablet inscribed with the Ephesia grammata dates to the 4^th c BC and they were said to be used spoken as an apotropiac charm while walking in a circle around newlyweds.  [27 ]

 

Peter Kingsley, writing of Empedocles’ magical worldview, states “there is nothing that is not vibrantly and knowingly alive. For him [Empedocles] - everything - even the words spoken by a man of understanding has an existence, intelligence and consciousness of its own.” [28] This notion appears close to the Egyptian ideas that words are not symbols, but realities.

 

Orpheus healed human pathos with poems and the lyre, while Pythagoras could chant his disciples to sleep and heal body and soul through musical words. [29] Fox argues that the PGM are carrying forward this “shamantic” tradition of magical musical charms. For the actual author(s) of the PGM, the notion of the magical potency of language could have been very strong indeed coming out of both the Egyptian and Greek magical traditions.

 

The use of voces magicae continues into later Coptic texts. For a spell invoking a “thundering power to perform every wish” the practitioner should say: “I invoke you. .  .who is addressed with the great secret name HAMOUZETH BETH ATHANABASSETONI .” [30] Vowel incantations are also found in these Coptic texts in figures typical of the PGM: [31]

AEEIOUO

EEIOU

EIO

IO

I

Voces magicae are also referred to in the Chaldean Oracles which are contemporary with the PGM and they appear to be an intrinsic part of the theurgist’s ritual. What is intriguing, for this study, about the Chaldean Oracles, is the relationship between the voces magicae and the process of immortalization of the soul, which is the goal of theurgy. These texts provide the closest approximation to self-identification with deity in a non-Egyptian context. According to the Chaldeans, the soul, in its descent to the body gathers impure substances. Through theurgistic rites, the soul can re-ascend, encounter the Divine and be purified of these impure substances and attain immortality.  The voces magicae invoke the assistant spirits that will help the soul to ascend without fear of being dragged down into Hades. [32] However, even though immortalization is the goal, self-identification with deity is not declared and only the soul can attain such a state.

 

The idea that the Egyptian language specifically held magical power is seen in the writings of people of the time. In the Hermetica (CH xvi) there is a passage which states that Greeks will not understand the Hermetica when translated into their language as Greek does not contain the power of Egyptian. [33] The Chaldean Oracles state “do not ever alter the foreign names (of the gods)”. Lewy elaborates further, “It is impossible to translate the magical formula, because its power it not due to its external sense.” [34] Iamblichus, describing the difficulty of translating the Hermetica from Egyptian to Greek says “. . .for the very quality of the sounds and the [intonation] of the Egyptian words contain in itself the force of things said.” [35] Invocation of deities by their secret names is also characteristic of Egyptian magic prior to the PGM according to Pinch, but unfortunately she does not give examples. [36]

 

Scholars have identified other potential sources beside Egyptian for specific voces magicae. The glossary in the Betz edition of the PGM speculates on a few of the voces magicae.  Jewish and Greek origins are offered as well as Egyptian for the eight names considered. Betz finds a intricate syncretism of Greek, Egyptian and Jewish elements in the texts. [37] To tease out the various strands and definitively locate the origin of specific voces magicae is yet to be done and will be difficult. What we may be seeing in the voces magicae is a general and wide-spread ancient Mediterranean magical practice. It could be that ABRACADABRA is a cousin to the voces magicae in the PGM.

 

Further questions to be asked regarding the voces magicae are: what were the potential avenues of magical communication between Egypt and Greece in the 4^th century BCE where the earliest evidence of specific magical words is found in the Ephesia grammata? Is there evidence of specific voces magicae, other than vowel chanting, in Egyptian magical practice prior to the PGM? If the specific form comes from Greek notions, why are the voces magicae in the PGM glossed into Old Coptic in many spells where the main body of the text is in Greek?

 

In conclusion, the claim that the roots of European magic can be traced to Egyptian magic appears highly suspect in regard to the notions discussed. Egyptian ideas and practices of self-identification with deity do not seem to be compatible with Greek notions of the relationship between the human and divine worlds. Through the voces magicae there is evidence of a generalized magical tradition in the ancient Mediterranean from which the European tradition may draw, but not specifically from Egypt.

 

Endnotes

1. Flying Roll no. XVI “The History of the Rosicrucian Order” states “Know then, O

Aspirant, that the Order of the Rose and Cross hath existed from time immemorial and that its mystic rites were practised and its hidden knowledge communicated in the initiations of the various races of Antiquity. Egypt, Eleusis, Samothrace, Persia, Chaldea and India alike cherished these mysteries, and thus handed down to posterity the Secret Wisdom of the Ancient Ages. . .” Flying Rolls were semi-official internal documents of the Order of an instructional and theoretical nature. see King, Frances.  Ritual Magic of the Golden Dawn. Rochester, VT: Destiny Books, 1987 & 1997, p.  105. See also Ramacharaka. The Kybalion: a study of the Hermetic philosophy of ancient Egypt and Greece. Chicago:”The Yogi Publication Society.

2. see "Occultism" in The Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Elidae, ed.

3. I am using Betz, Hans Deiter. The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation including the Demotic spells. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986. Papyri Graecae Magicae refers to the original title of the Preisendanz edition.

4. see Betz, Introduction to the PGM, p. xlii.

5. Ibid, p xli.

6. PGM I, 140, 195.

7. Betz, p. xliii.

8. Betz, p. 332

9. Pinch, p. 6.

10. In hieroglyphics, the word for magician uses the symbol for a god as the determinative. Personal communication with Dr. W. Poe, 11/24/97.

11. Brier, p. 125

12. Pinch, p. 23 and Kotansky, Roy. "Incantations and Prayers for Salvation on Inscribed Greek Amulets." in Faraone & Obbink, eds. Magika Hiera.

13. Faulkner, p.1, 4 and 6.

14. Fowden, p. 26.

15. Pinch p. 7.

16. Eliade, p. 89.

17. Personal communication with Dr. W. Poe, 11/24/97.

18. Barb, p. 155

19. Ibid

20. Fowden, p. 118.

21. see "MAGIC: Magic in Greco-Roman Antiquity" in The Encyclopedia of Religion.

22. Ibid.

23. see Corrigan, K. "Body and Soul in Ancient Religious Experience" in Armstrong, A.H. ed. Classical Mediterranean  Spirituality.

24. Willoughby

25. Kingsley, p. 233-38.

26. Pinch, P. 72. For another perspective on this problem, I asked subscribers to ARCANA, a listserv devoted to the scholarly study of the occult if they know of any examples of self-identification with deity in Western magical practice outside of theurgy. Aleister Crowley’s works and the writings of the Golden Dawn were mentioned several times. One writer specifically wrote: “In all their initiatiory rituals, the officers [of the Golden Dawn] took on the forms and powers of various Egyptian gods and directed that force at the initiate” (Benjamin Rowe, Oct 6, 1997 email correspondence, see also http://w3.one.net/~browe) He also suggested that John Dee’s Enochian magic included self-identification with deity implicitly in it’s “Angelic Calls”.  The significance of Dee’s use of this particular magical practice is beyond the scope of this paper. However, it is fascinating that the Golden Dawn associated Egyptian magical practice with divine self-identification. Exactly how this association was made is also not our topic, but it apparently did not come through the Greek magical tradition.

27. Kotansky, p. 111.

28. Kingsley, p. 230

29. see Fox, Patricia. "In Praise of Nonsense" in Armstrong, A.H. Classical Mediterranean Spirituality.

30. Meyer & Smith, p. 239.

31. Ibid, p. 234 and PGM I, 15-20.

32. Lewy, p. 227-257.

33. see Fowden, chapter 1.

34. Lewy, p. 240.

35. Fowden, p. 30.

36. Pinch, p. 23.

37. Betz, p. xliii

 

Works Cited

Armstrong, A.H., ed. Classical Mediterranean Spirituality: Egyptian, Greek and Roman. NY: Crossroads, 1980.

Barb. A.A. "Mystery, Myth and Magic" in Harris, J.R. The Legacy of Egypt, 2^nd edition, London: Oxford University Press, 1971.

Betz, H.D. The Greek Magical Papyri in translation including the Demotic spells. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1986.

Brier, Bob. Ancient Egyptian Magic. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1980.

Eliade, Mircea. A History of Religious Ideas. vol. 1, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Eliade, Mircea, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion. New York: Macmillian, 1987.

Faraone, Christopher and Obbink, Dirk, eds. Magika Hiera: Ancient Greek Magic and Religion. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.

Faulkner, R. O., trans. The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. London: University of Oxford, 1969.

Fowden, Garth. The Egyptian Hermes: a historical approach to the late pagan mind. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Kingsley, Peter. Ancient Philosophy, Mystery and Magic: Empedocles and Pythagorean Tradition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.

Lewy, Hans. Chaldean Oracles and Theurgy: mysticism, magic and platonism in the later Roman empire. Le Caire: Impremerie De L'institut Francais D'Archeologie Orientale, 1956.

Meyer, Marvin and Smith, Richard, eds. Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic texts of ritual power. San Francisco: Harper, 1994.

Pinch, Geraldine. Magic in Ancient Egypt. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994.

Willoughby, Harold R. Pagan Regeneration: a study of mystery initiations in the Graeco-Roman world. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929.

Other Works Consulted

Johnston, S.I. Hekate Soteria: a study of Hekate's role in the Chaldean Oracles and related literature. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1990.

Majercik, Ruth. The Chaldean Oracles: text, translation and commentary. Leiden and New York: E.J. Brill, 1989.

Parrott, Douglas, ed. Nag Hammadi Codices 5:2-6 and 6 with papyrus Beronliensis 8502, 1 and 4. Leiden: Brill, 1979.

Shaw, G. Theurgy and the Soul: the neoplatonism of Iamblichus. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995.